The panel, partially in reaction to a case in which a Mesquite woman contracted a bacterial infection while getting a pedicure at a nail salon, said salons must: wash foot spa basins between each pedicure with Environmental Protection Agency-approved disinfectants; flush basins for 10 minutes at the end of business each day; soak the basins overnight every two weeks with bleach; and keep a log of cleaning procedures.

"Every year they find something to concentrate on," said Pam Kennedy of Pam's Gentle Touch, Interstate 40 and Georgia Street at Wolflin Square.

Most Amarillo-area businesses that offer pedicures as a component of their services already meet or exceed the new requirements.

"I disinfect everything with Let's Dance and Let's Touch," Kennedy said of two hospital-grade disinfectants. "I also spray every day with Lysol. It's a good disinfectant."

The new regulations were prompted by an investigation conducted by the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services.

"We were shocked when we found out there were no regulations on the books concerning these foot spas," said Zachary Thompson, director of the health department.

Dr. David Buhner, medical director of the county health department, said bacteria that cause these infections thrive in the kind of water-circulation system used by the foot spas.

He said the infection can be painful and in some cases cause scarring.

Tammie Ray, master manicurist and pedicurist at Designers Group of Amarillo, 3444 S. Western St., said she welcomes the new regulations, but most of what she does to sanitize her equipment goes beyond the new regulations.

"Between each customer, I use a hospital-grade sanitizer (on the foot spa) after rinsing it with real, real hot water for five minutes solid. It's constantly clean."

Ray said she takes the sanitary theme one step further with her customers.

"Every client has their own nail brush, buffer, nail file and toe separator - anything I'm going to use on them I keep in their own box and use on them and them alone," she said. "They really appreciate that."

Epidemiologist Jacie Volkman, who headed the Dallas County investigation, said cleaning and disinfecting have to be recorded by salons and available for the cosmetology commission's inspections.

Ray said she hasn't kept a record of cleaning and sanitizing in the past.

"As long as you keep it sanitized, I don't think you need to keep a log," she said. "But I'll do whatever the rules say."

Kennedy said she understands the need for the inspections, "but if you do what you're supposed to do every day, you have nothing to fear."

Louis Padilla, an enforcement official for the Texas Cosmetology Commission, said the agency would look for compliance with the new regulations during routine inspections, as well as respond to specific customer complaints.

Globe-News Features Writer Bruce Beck and The Associated Press contributed to this report